Sleep Loss in the Hospitalized Patient and Its Influence on Recovery from Illness and Operation

Adequate sleep is essential to health and well-being. Adverse effects of sleep loss are evident acutely and are cumulative in their effect. These include impairment of cognition, psychomotor function, and mood, as well as cardiovascular, metabolic, and immune dysfunction including proinflammatory effects and increased catabolic propensity. Such effects are counterproductive to recovery from illness and operation, yet hospitalization challenges sleep through the anxieties, discomforts, and sleep environmental challenges faced by patients, the inadequate attention given to the needs of patients with preexisting sleep disorders, and the lack of priority these issues receive from hospital staff and their leaders. Mitigation of the adverse effects of noise, light, uncomfortable bedding, intrusive observations, anxiety, and pain together with attention to specific sleep needs and monitoring of sleep quality are steps that would help address the issue and potentially improve patient outcomes.